Some Terrible Lies
by pandorabox82
Summary: Since the Replicator killed Strauss, Penelope can't help but notice how much it has affected Rossi. But when she goes to comfort him one day, she finds out that sometimes, even the closest friend, can keep a secret.


Penelope pressed her foot to the accelerator a little more forcefully, willing Esther to go faster. Rossi hadn't been in for three days, and it was unlike him to not even call them, to tell her that he was sick. Then again, it was Erin's birthday, and his second without her. Hotch had told her he was taking some time to process, but she knew a lie when she heard one. Something was seriously wrong, and she was going to stop him before he did anything rash.

Finally, she was turning down the road that led to his mansion and she tried to ignore how clammy her hands were becoming, how her heart rate had picked up, how shallow her breaths were becoming. This had to be a good thing to do, no matter what her nerves told her. She couldn't back out now, that was for certain.

Her phone rang, and she touched her earpiece, wondering who was calling. "Hey, Baby Girl. What are you doing out of the office today?"

"I'm checking up on Rossi. Something's seemed hinky with him lately, and I just want to make sure that everything is all right. I mean, it has been almost two and a half years since, since, well, you know."

"Since Erin died. Yeah, I do. But do you think that bothering him is such a wise idea? Maybe he wants to deal with his grief alone."

"Derek Morgan, you know that he doesn't want to be alone. He craves attention from all of us, or haven't you noticed that?"

"Maybe, I suppose. Just, if he doesn't react the way you'd like, don't take it out on him. Promise me that."

"I promise, Sugar. Have a good afternoon." She hung up before he could answer and took another deep breath before pulling into Rossi's drive. Derek's words of warning rang in her head as she parked and went up to the door. Thankfully, Rossi possessed a large porch and she paced up and down it as she debated ringing the doorbell. Hearing a noise come from inside the house, she paused by the door and pressed her ear to it, listening closely.

The noises were muffled, but she could have sworn that she heard a baby crying, which was impossible, since Rossi hadn't found a new girlfriend, let alone formed a deep enough romantic attachment to someone to produce a kid. Penelope shook her head, knowing that that was antiquated thinking, but then again, Rossi had some antiquated notions. Like marriage and then a baby. So, who was the one crying? Was he watching a home movie of James?

Finally, curiosity won out and she stood up, raised her hand to the door, and knocked firmly. From the other side of the door, she could hear light footsteps coming toward her and she held her breath. Those were not Rossi's footsteps, and she braced herself for who would answer the door. As it opened, she looked down at the ground, taking in first the bare feet of a woman. Instinctively, her eyes began to travel upwards, and she felt a tight vise grip her heart as she began to recognize just who she was standing in front of.

"E-Erin?" she managed to gasp out, looking at the child she was holding.

"Oh, um, come in." She tried to smile winningly, but it was rapidly failing, her lower lip quivering as she led Penelope inside. "David! We have company!"

"What?" He came rushing into the great room and gasped when he saw her standing there. "Kitten?"

"Hi. I was worried."

"Charlotte's sick. I wanted to spend some time with her."

"I see. And Charlotte is…?"

"Our daughter." Her head whipped back around to Erin and she frowned in confusion. "So, I suppose that I should probably start at the beginning."

"That would be a great place to start, Erin." The baby in her arms began to cry once more, and Erin began to bounce lightly on her feet in an effort to comfort her. "May I?" she asked, holding out her arms.

Erin sighed a little as she nodded, handing Charlotte over to Penelope. Gently, she cooed at the baby, rocking her back and forth as she followed Erin and Dave into the living room. By the time they got there, Charlotte had fallen asleep in her arms, and she was loathe to give the baby back to Erin. "She doesn't usually take to strangers."

"How many strangers has she seen in her life?"

Erin blushed guiltily. "Just the UPS and FedEx drivers." She reached out for Rossi's hand, and it was then that Penelope saw that slim golden band on her ring finger. "Well, where should I start?"

"I believe you mentioned the beginning not five minutes ago," Penelope replied a bit testily, and Erin flinched, unconsciously scooting closer to Rossi and she sighed, carefully adjusting how she was holding Charlotte so that she could reach out for Erin's hand. Hesitantly, the older woman clasped it, before holding on tightly. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm still in shock. Let me try that again. Please, start at the beginning."

Erin nodded. "We had to keep things a secret. Neither Matteo nor I were aware if John Curtis was working on his own, or if he had a partner. We had discussed what could possibly happen, if I were the one targeted…"

"Did you know all along that he was after you?"

Erin flushed guiltily. "Yes. There was just this feeling that I had, as the team brought in more and more evidence. And when I was kidnapped, and drugged, I knew that I had to think fast. I did a pretty good job of convincing Aaron that I had died, and when David insisted on going with me to the morgue, I quickly filled him in. We managed to take care of everything and get me connected with a Marshal before he took off for Curtis's home. And then, we weren't really certain that the explosion had really taken care of the problem. Oh, sure, we knew that the man was dead, we just didn't know if he had any accomplices. And by the time that we were certain, it was just easier to remain dead to everyone."

"Even your children?"

A soft smile lit up her face as she shook her head. "No, my handler was able to discreetly inform them of my ruse, and through her, we've been able to keep in touch. Tabitha graduates next year, and Matteo feels that that should be enough time to completely close the case against Curtis, and I can reemerge from my hiding place."

Penelope sighed a little as she let go of Erin's hand in order to hold Charlotte closer to her chest. "And how did this happen? It's not like either of you are in peak condition to be conceiving a child, let alone a healthy one like her."

"Money can buy you a lot of things, especially silence. Iron-clad NDAs also help." Dave gave her an unapologetic look and she felt herself blush deeply as she looked down at the soft child in her arms. "And now is the part of the conversation where I tell you that in order to keep your silence, I might just have to make you sleep with the fishes."

"David! It's not nice to tease the people that love you, especially when we both have told some terrible lies in order to hide the truth of my life. Penelope, please, try and keep this to yourself, since there are a few minor details that we need to iron out. I know, nothing I can say can make you forgive David, let alone me, all I ask is that you respect my privacy until things are truly all right."

There was a quaver to Erin's voice that hadn't been there before she had…well, since before she had left them. And it was hard for Penelope to wrap her mind around the fact that she was hearing her former boss's voice after nearly two years of thinking her dead. "I'm usually good at keeping my mouth closed, Erin. I know that loose lips can destroy things so quickly, and I wouldn't want to do anything that would hurt Charlotte. And you."

Penelope glanced up at Erin to see that the woman was silently crying, and a part of her heart broke to see those tears. Reaching out, she took hold of Erin's hand once more, squeezing gently as they continued to look at each other. "Thank you, Penelope."

And then, Charlotte began to stir in her arms, her face rubbing against Penelope's chest before she snapped open her eyes and focused in on her face. There was a split second before she realized that she was not being held by her mother, and then she was opening her mouth and wailing at the top of her lungs.

"It's probably time for her medicine, Penelope. I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

She knew a dismissal when she heard one, and so she handed the baby over to Erin and stood up, giving them a small wave before letting herself out of the house. In twenty minutes, her entire worldview had shifted, and Penelope wasn't certain she was going to do with that information just yet. She only hoped that she could honour Erin's request, and keep things quiet until she was ready to come out as alive once more.


End file.
